Grassroots venues are where careers start. They’re the rooms where bands play their first gig, build a following and learn their craft, and where fans discover the next big thing before anyone else. Here’s our guide to the venues putting on live music in Belfast and right across Northern Ireland.
These rooms need our support more than ever. Music Venue Trust’s 2025 annual report, launched at Stormont in April 2026, found just 17 active grassroots music venues in Northern Ireland. Together they were worth £11.85 million to the local economy and hosted more than 22,000 performances, but only half made a profit, jobs fell by 21% in a year, and the live music itself cost them £1.63 million more than it brought in. Buying a ticket, a drink or a T-shirt really does keep these places open.
Tips for getting gigs. Start small and build up, from open mics and free slots to support slots and then your own headline show. Send one short, friendly message with a link to your best track and a live video, your realistic local draw, and the dates and acts you’d share a bill with. Many venues are booked through independent promoters, so check our Gig Promoters page too. And if a room is hire-only, get the costs, ticket split, sound engineer, curfew and merch terms in writing before you announce.
Is your venue missing, or have your details changed? Let us know at news@musicconnections.com
Belfast grassroots venues
Ulster Sports Club
High Street
A High Street social club turned one of Belfast’s busiest small rooms, the Ulster Sports Club hosts touring indie, punk, metal and electronic acts alongside local headliners, and it’s home to many of the city’s best club nights too. If you’re a promoter or band starting out, its smaller Committee Room is a popular place to launch a night.
96–98 High Street, Belfast BT1 2BG
Voodoo
Fountain Street
Open since 2011, Voodoo is an independent bar and venue split over two floors, with the bar and open mics downstairs and the gig room upstairs. It’s the city’s home for alternative, rock, metal and punk, local and touring, and its regular Voodoo Sessions nights give new bands a first step on stage. For many NI bands, it’s the classic first headline room.
9–11 Fountain Street, Belfast BT1 5EA
Visit Voodoo
Oh Yeah Music Centre
Gordon Street, Cathedral Quarter
Housed in a former whiskey warehouse since 2007, Oh Yeah is Belfast’s not-for-profit music hub, combining a licensed gig room for up to 290 people standing with rehearsal space, artist development and the NI Music Exhibition. It became the first venue in Northern Ireland to win Music Venue Trust’s Grassroots Venue: Spirit of the Scene award in 2024, and its ground floor is fully wheelchair accessible. The main venue is available to hire through its website.
15–21 Gordon Street, Belfast BT1 2LG
Visit Oh Yeah
The Black Box
Hill Street, Cathedral Quarter
A much-loved multi-arts venue running since 2006, The Black Box programmes music, comedy, film, theatre and festivals in its main room, with free gigs and a weekly open mic in the Green Room bar. Its Black Box Originals strand is a great route in for original acts, and its contact page covers booking and hire enquiries.
18–22 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA
Visit the Black Box
The Belfast Empire Music Hall
Botanic Avenue
A Victorian landmark on Botanic Avenue and a music venue since 1987, the Empire has a music hall upstairs and a bar with nightly bands downstairs. Its programme mixes touring acts with local showcases such as SONI and GIFTED, alongside its long-running Empire Laughs Back comedy club. Please note there are around 12 steps up to the music hall. Contact info@thebelfastempire.com or 028 9024 9276.
42 Botanic Avenue, Belfast BT7 1JQ
Visit the Empire
The Deer’s Head
Lower Garfield Street
A city-centre brewpub with weekly bar sessions and an upstairs Music Hall for intimate gigs, The Deer’s Head has fast become a key stop for touring and local acts. Its bills run from Americana and post-rock to Saturday afternoon blues sessions.
1–3 Lower Garfield Street, Belfast BT1 1FP
Visit The Deer’s Head
Limelight
Ormeau Avenue
Belfast’s long-running rock and club complex, open since 1987, takes in Limelight 1, Limelight 2 and Katy’s Bar. Owned by promoters MCD and Shine since 2011, it mostly hosts touring rock and metal along with club nights, so local acts usually get in through support slots with promoters such as The Distortion Project.
17 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast BT2 8HD
The Pavilion
Ormeau Road
Known locally as the Big House, The Pavilion is an Ormeau Road bar with a live room on its middle floor that’s long been a launch pad for local bands, and it hosted trad sessions during Fleadh Belfast 2026.
296 Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 2GD
Visit The Pavilion
The Sunflower
Union Street
An unpretentious corner pub behind Belfast Central Library, recognisable by its preserved security cage, the Sunflower has live music in the bar every night and events in its upstairs room. Its week takes in a Monday open mic, Wednesday jazz, weekend trad sessions and the revived Sunflower Folk Club, making it a brilliant first step for acoustic and folk acts.
65 Union Street, Belfast BT1 2JG
Visit the Sunflower
Belfast arts centres
The Duncairn
North Belfast
Run by the 174 Trust in a beautifully restored former church, The Duncairn is North Belfast’s centre for culture and arts, with an intimate concert space for around 170 people. It’s a key venue for folk, trad and acoustic music, and a regular home for Belfast International Arts Festival shows.
Duncairn Avenue, Belfast BT14 6BP
Visit The Duncairn
Banana Block
Newtownards Road, East Belfast
Housed in the former linen mill at Portview Trade Centre, Banana Block is a creative space and events venue that can hold up to 800 people standing or 300 seated. It’s mostly used for hires and electronic and community events, and it’s also home to the Sound Advice record shop.
Portview Trade Centre, 310 Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 1HE
Visit Banana Block
Larger Belfast venues
Ulster Hall
Bedford Street
Owned by Belfast City Council and one of the oldest concert halls in these islands, the Ulster Hall holds around 1,000 seated or 1,850 standing and hosts everything from the Ulster Orchestra to the NI Music Prize.
34 Bedford Street, Belfast
Waterfront Hall
Lanyon Place
Belfast’s flagship concert venue, the Waterfront Hall has a main auditorium seating more than 2,200, along with a smaller studio space.
2 Lanyon Place, Belfast
Visit the Waterfront Hall
Belsonic, Ormeau Park
South Belfast
Run by Shine, Belsonic brings huge outdoor shows to Ormeau Park each June, with 2026 headliners including The Cure, Kings of Leon and Def Leppard. Support slots come through the promoter rather than open applications.
Ormeau Park, Belfast
Visit Belsonic
Derry~Londonderry and the North West
Nerve Centre
Magazine Street
Founded in 1990 and based in a purpose-built home inside the city walls since 1999, the Nerve Centre is Northern Ireland’s creative media arts centre. It combines a live venue with rehearsal, recording and training facilities, and programmes touring and local acts, comedy and festival events.
7–8 Magazine Street, Derry BT48 6HJ
Visit the Nerve Centre
Sandino’s
Water Street
A cornerstone of Derry’s alternative and political music scene, Sandino’s is a café-bar with a gig room that hosts local bills alongside touring names, from The Bluetones to Shaun Ryder.
Water Street, Derry BT48 6BQ
Visit Sandino’s
Bennigans
John Street
With jazz, blues and folk at its heart, Bennigans is one of the North West’s most characterful music bars and a hub of the City of Derry Jazz Festival.
13 John Street, Derry BT48 6JY
Visit Bennigans
Peadar O’Donnell’s
Waterloo Street
One of Derry’s best-loved pubs, Peadar O’Donnell’s has traditional music sessions seven nights a week, with bands at the weekend in the Gweedore Bar next door.
59–63 Waterloo Street, Derry BT48 6HD
Millennium Forum
Newmarket Street
Opened in 2001, the Millennium Forum seats 1,000 and has one of the largest theatre stages in Ireland, hosting major touring concerts as well as theatre.
3 Newmarket Street, Derry BT48 6EB
Visit the Millennium Forum
Rest of Northern Ireland
Court House
Bangor
Run by arts charity Open House since 2020, Bangor’s historic Court House is a year-round venue for gigs, from Jah Wobble and Andy White to Duke Special, and a centrepiece of the Open House Festival every August.
16 Quay Street, Bangor BT20 5ED
Visit the Court House
Nan Rice’s
Newry
A bar, lounge and restaurant that’s become the heart of Newry’s live scene, Nan Rice’s hosts touring acts such as girlfriend. alongside local bands, and it’s a regular home for Yew Tree Promotions’ shows.
7 Francis Street, Newry BT35 8BQ
Visit Nan Rice’s
The Burnavon
Cookstown
Mid Ulster’s arts centre, the Burnavon has a 347-seat theatre and a cabaret layout for around 120, and it’s available for hire as well as running its own programme.
Burn Road, Cookstown
Visit the Burnavon
Strule Arts Centre
Omagh
Omagh’s riverside arts centre has a 384-seat theatre and hosts concerts as part of a varied year-round programme.
Townhall Square, Omagh
Visit Strule Arts Centre
Marketplace Theatre
Armagh
Armagh’s theatre and arts centre has a main auditorium for around 390 and a studio for up to 128, with music among its year-round programme.
9 Market Street, Armagh BT61 7BW
Last updated October 2026.